His Perfect Bride? by Louisa Heaton Page A

position the water was only ankle-deep, but her boots were going to be ruined and the back of her trousers was cold and soaked. The base of her spine hurt where she’d fallen directly on to it and she felt slightly winded. Turning, she noted the muddy track of her slide down into the water.
    ‘Great. Just what I needed.’
    There was no way to tell where the edge of the small stream was, so she lifted up her feet in her water-filled boots and tried to find the bank. A tree root stuck out slightly, so she reached to grab for that and pulled herself through the water and up onto firmer ground.
    Her feet and legs were freezing !
    Normally Lula loved snow. Loved the excitement of it and the fun of it. But having soaking wet, freezing cold feet in soggy socks and boots wasn’t much fun. She wiped the mud off her bottom and clambered up. At the top of the bank she pulled off one boot and poured out the water. Then she did the same with the other foot. It felt awful to have to slide her feet back into them when all she could think of was warm, cosy slippers, or dry feet wriggling in front of a roaring open fire.
    But she did it. She had to.
    She continued on, cursing every step, feeling the ache in her bottom gradually fade away.
    By the time she met up with Olly again a good twenty minutes had passed and her teeth were chattering.
    ‘Any j-j-joy?’
    Olly looked her up and down. ‘You’re soaked!’
    ‘N-Not really. I’m more ice now than water.’ She managed a smile.
    ‘You can’t go on like that. Come on—I’ll take you home.’
    ‘We need to look for Ruby.’
    ‘And have my new doctor get hypothermia? I don’t think so.’
    ‘But the police think we’re looking in this area. We can’t leave.’
    ‘I’ll let them know what’s happened and how far we searched. First rule of emergency support: make sure it’s safe for yourself. I won’t have you walking around in those boots and wet trousers.’
    ‘What if I refuse?’
    He looked hard at her, his steely blue eyes firm and sure. But then a hint of a twinkle filled them before he scooped her up into his arms suddenly, the way a groom might carry a new bride over the threshold. ‘Then I’m forced to do this.’ He looked into her eyes with amusement, daring her to say anything.
    Lula blushed, but also laughed. Olly wasstrong. She could feel him holding her tightly and safely in his arms. ‘Why, Dr James!’
    He grinned and began walking the path back to the car. ‘Let’s just hope I don’t hit the ice or we’ll both be doomed.’
    Lula didn’t think he’d continue to carry her all the way back to the car. It was so far ! But somehow he did. Okay, he was huffing and puffing, and his cheeks were fiery red, and she’d sagged slightly in his arms by the time they got there, but he still held her. He only put her down when they reached the stile at the entry point to the woods.
    ‘Thank you. You didn’t have to carry me so far.’
    ‘Yes, I did. I couldn’t have your feet in the snow. Not wet like that.’
    ‘Well, it was very chivalrous of you.’
    He accepted her thanks with a grin and a nod of his head. ‘I do try to be a gentleman.’
    ‘You do it very well. This maiden is thankful.’
    She smiled then, and kissed his cheek, but when she pulled away her smile faltered as she saw the way he was looking at her mouth. As if he was hungry for her. As if he was going to kiss her back and it wasn’t going to be a friendly peck.
    Hurriedly, suddenly afraid of what she might do if she let him, she turned away and clambered over the stile, her whistle clinking against the buttons on her coat. Lula waited on her side of thecar, glad that she had the space of a car between them, but clambered in eagerly when he opened up her side and turned on the heater.
    Hot air billowed into the car and gratefully she peeled off her boots and socks and perched her bare feet up on the console, near one of the heating vents.
    ‘Oh… bliss !’
    Her toes were very